How well do you treat your customers
How well do you treat your customers
1. Commit to quality customer service.
Everyone in your company needs to be devoted to creating a positive and memorable experience to your customers. Always aim to exceed customers’ expectations…may be even under-promise and over-deliver. Think what impression that would leave on your customers.
2. Always (and I mean ALWAYS) provide what you promise.
Fail to do this and you’ll lose creditability straight away…and possiblty the customer as well. If you promise
to provide an estimate within 48 hours, get the quote out within 48 hours! I have lost count of the people and businesses that don’t keep their promises and I am sure you can relate to these types of annoying experiences. If you can’t keep your promise, at least have the courtesy to let your customer know before-hand. They will appreciate this.
Recently our swimming pool’s salt chlorinator packed up just before our relatives arrived from the UK. Our regular pool service provider promised to fix it before the Christmas (and our summer holiday) break. Days went by and no sight of any repair. After 4 telephone messages later, I gave up and left them an “assertive” message advising them I will no longer deal with them.
3. Listen to your customers
Be a sponge…your business may depend on it. Try to learn as much as you can about your customers so you can tailor your service approach to their needs (not yours!) and their buying habits. Listen attentively to their concerns and complaints…they will be doing you a favour if you can correct the problem before you run out of customers!
We regularly send our post job surveys to establish how we could improve our service. You could do the same by offering a small incentive for your customers to return the survey.
4. Know your products
Conveying knowledge about your products and services will help you win your customers’ trust and confidence. Try to anticipate the types of questions your customers will ask.
5. Focus on making customers, not sales
Salespeople often, especially those being paid commission, focus on volume instead of the quality of the sale.
Remember, that keeping a customer is often more important than closing the sale. Research clearly shows that it costs much more to attract a new customer than it does to keep an existing one.
6. Don’t leave customers waiting
Repairs, call backs and emails need to be handled with a sense of urgency. Most customers want immediate resolution and if you give it them, you’ll probably win their repeat business. Research shows that 95% of dissatisfied customers will do business with a company again if their complaint is resolved on the spot.
We have a policy that insists that customer emails and calls are responded to within 4 hours.
How well do you treat your customers - To learn more about this author, visit Mark Gwilliam's Website.
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Negative buying experiences are almost always linked to poor customer service. Good customer service is essential for all businesses and giving it shouldn’t be seen as an extra. It isn’t difficult to provide if you follow a few basic rules:
1. Commit to quality customer service.
Everyone in your company needs to be devoted to creating a positive and memorable experience to your customers. Always aim to exceed customers’ expectations…may be even under-promise and over-deliver. Think what impression that would leave on your customers.
2. Always (and I mean ALWAYS) provide what you promise.
Fail to do this and you’ll lose creditability straight away…and possiblty the customer as well. If you promise
to provide an estimate within 48 hours, get the quote out within 48 hours! I have lost count of the people and businesses that don’t keep their promises and I am sure you can relate to these types of annoying experiences. If you can’t keep your promise, at least have the courtesy to let your customer know before-hand. They will appreciate this.
Recently our swimming pool’s salt chlorinator packed up just before our relatives arrived from the UK. Our regular pool service provider promised to fix it before the Christmas (and our summer holiday) break. Days went by and no sight of any repair. After 4 telephone messages later, I gave up and left them an “assertive” message advising them I will no longer deal with them.
3. Listen to your customers
Be a sponge…your business may depend on it. Try to learn as much as you can about your customers so you can tailor your service approach to their needs (not yours!) and their buying habits. Listen attentively to their concerns and complaints…they will be doing you a favour if you can correct the problem before you run out of customers!
We regularly send our post job surveys to establish how we could improve our service. You could do the same by offering a small incentive for your customers to return the survey.
4. Know your products
Conveying knowledge about your products and services will help you win your customers’ trust and confidence. Try to anticipate the types of questions your customers will ask.
5. Focus on making customers, not sales
Salespeople often, especially those being paid commission, focus on volume instead of the quality of the sale.
Remember, that keeping a customer is often more important than closing the sale. Research clearly shows that it costs much more to attract a new customer than it does to keep an existing one.
6. Don’t leave customers waiting
Repairs, call backs and emails need to be handled with a sense of urgency. Most customers want immediate resolution and if you give it them, you’ll probably win their repeat business. Research shows that 95% of dissatisfied customers will do business with a company again if their complaint is resolved on the spot.
We have a policy that insists that customer emails and calls are responded to within 4 hours.
How well do you treat your customers - To learn more about this author, visit Mark Gwilliam's Website.
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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